Big Fish a Day Early at Hobie Worlds – Rainy, cool conditions persist on Shang Lake but monster carp caught during pre-fish

Identically rigged Hobie Pro Angler 14s head out on a rainy Power Pole pre-fish day on Shang Lake.

Shang Lake, Changshu, China – November 12, 2015 – The 5th Hobie Fishing World Championship presented by Rhino-Rack took a step closer to competition today as 46 extremely excited international anglers loaded their tackle and pedaled off from the Power-Pole starting line in their Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayaks.

All competitors were eager to have their first taste of targeting what Shang Lake has to offer, the Yellow Cheek Carp, the Top Mouth Culter and the Chinese Perch. One angler got more than he bargained for, catching the right fish on the wrong day. Finn Sloth Hansen from Denmark landed a 1.47 meter Yellow Cheek Carp weighing 23+kg. That’s 4.8 feet long and over 50 pounds!

'It was amazing, this is a once in a lifetime fish!” said Finn, and hopefully he wasn’t dooming his chances when the real fishing begins Friday. “We had been fishing for about 20 minutes and I hadn't had a touch, I could see the fish, they just weren't biting. I changed my lure and tried something different and then on my second cast I had him. It took about 20 minutes to land.”

Right fish, wrong day as Finn Sloth Hansen from Denmark caught and released this 50-pound plus Shang Lake monster the day before competition in the Hobie Worlds.

Overcast skies with 5- to 10-knot NNE winds and patches of light rain greeted the anglers as they headed off for what was for most a challenging day on Shang Lake. Their anxious wait to employ what they had learned on the Lowrance Navigation Day yesterday was over and it was time to pick up some hard earned knowledge in their quest to land the 'Big Three'. Anglers spread out across the lake, with many heading North to work the weed beds that were thick with fish yesterday. Once again, there were plenty of sightings of good-size fish but the challenge was landing them.

The competitors know where the fish are, they just need to figure out how to catch them. Finn wasn’t telling – yet! Stay tuned tomorrow for the results from the first day of competition in the Hobie Worlds.